Do you have any memories of attending Crucial Crew? Did any of the safety presentations you saw there stand you in good stead later in life?

Crucial Crew, the annual event that teaches life skills to Year 6 pupils (age 10 and 11) who are preparing to make the transition from primary to secondary school, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and organisers would like to hear from people who have put the safety messages into practice during real-life emergencies.

Alison Cottier, a member of the organising committee, said: ’Each year about 900 primary school pupils learn a wide range of valuable life lessons.

’We take a fun approach to getting across some serious messages.

Since Crucial Crew started at Summerland in 1992, more than 20,000 children have benefitted from the advice and guidance provided.

’Some of our earlier participants and presenters will now have children of their own who have also taken part. There must be a wealth of stories about people putting the Crucial Crew messages to good use and we would love to hear them ahead of our 25th anniversary event.’

The children who attend are preparing to make the transition from primary to secondary school and many of the lessons stay with them for life.

In 2012 two 15-year-old boys out walking were cut off by the tide at Port Lewaigue. Remembering what they had learned at Crucial Crew five years earlier, they made a 999 call and and climbed up onto some rocks where they waited until they were rescued by the Ramsey coastguard.

rescue

Coastguard ports operations officer Michael MacDonald, who had made the original Crucial Crew presentation attended by the boys, said: ’It made the rescue a lot easier. It’s so easy to get cut off by the tide round there but they had remembered the lessons well and managed to keep themselves safe.’

Michael will be presenting again at this year’s event in June, on behalf of the coastguard service, along with representatives from the police, fire service, St John Ambulance, Manx Utilities, Manx Telecom, Bus Vannin, the road safety team and the Department of Health and Social Care’s school nursing service.

The emphasis is on providing potentially life-saving information that will stand participants in good stead for the rest of their lives.

Topics covered include road safety, online security, first aid, safety in the home and being a good citizen.

And anyone who has ever been to Crucial Crew, either as an accompanying parent or a child, will usually remember certain iconic moments such as the Manx Utilities pantomime with the ’exploding’ toaster!

This year’s Crucial Crew event takes place at University College Isle of Man from June 19 to 23.

Anyone wishing to share their Crucial Crew memories should email [email protected].